1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical package and, more particularly, to an optical package with reduced deflection of the optical signal path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical packages, including transmitters, receivers and/or transceivers, rely on careful alignment of the optical device to the attached optical fiber to provide optimum coupling therebetween. As a result, various systems and arrangements have been developed to align the fiber to the optical device during the fiber attachment process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,363 issued to I. Camlibel et al. on Oct. 10, 1978 discloses an optical package wherein a fiber is centered within a thin-walled metal tube and the tube is inserted through an opening in the package wall. The optical device is activated and the tube adjusted (both radially and axially) within the opening until the desired degree of optical coupling is achieved. The tube is subsequently brazed to the package wall. In various embodiments of the Camlibel et al. arrangement, the fiber may include a lensed end portion to provide improved coupling efficiency.
An alternative alignment technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,7476,657 issued to G.M. Chaoui et al. on May 31, 1988. In this arrangement, an optical subassembly and fiber-based subassembly are aligned utilizing a computer-controlled laser welding process. The technique relies on the use of subassemblies with essentially identical outer diameters which are brought into contact and first joined at the two points where the edges of the piece parts coincide. The computer then uses a specific routine to continue the joining process so as to maximize the optical throughput.
A problem may exist with these and other conventional fiber-to-device alignment arrangements, however, in that subsequent motions of the package may disturb the integrity of the alignment and function to decouple the fiber from the optical device.